Russian museum displays Georgian war trophies

By James Kilner

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A military museum in Moscow opened an exhibition on Wednesday displaying the Russian army's trophies from a war last month against Georgia.

In a room about the size of a tennis court at the Armed Forces Museum, families walked past captured rifles and uniforms from Georgia and studied photos of dead Georgian soldiers and victorious Russian tanks.

"I wanted to show my son this," 27-year-old Maxim said as he led his two-year-old around the room.

"He has to see how strong and powerful the Russian army is. It was not the aggressor but it still won."

Georgia invaded the Russian-backed breakaway region of South Ossetia on August 7 triggering an overwhelming counterattack from Russia that ended five days later.

Tbilisi has said it had to attack to prevent South Ossetian shells from destroying Georgian villages, while Moscow has said it acted to stop Georgia from killing innocent civilians.

The exhibition in central Moscow was unequivocal in its interpretation of the conflict.

A series of photos showed Georgian missiles soaring through the air. The next series showed destroyed buildings in Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian capital.